September 7 One of the most significant questions you can ask a person is “What do you want?” When King Artaxerxes saw Nehemiah’s sadness, that is exactly what he asked him. (See Nehemiah 2:4.) What is equally significant is that Nehemiah was able to answer the king specifically. He said, “Let [the king] send me…
September 6 I like to think of Nehemiah’s cupbearer job as his preliminary occupation, or his “pre-occupation,” because he was born to fulfill another, much more important role. Your true work is what you were born to do. Your job is what you do only until you are ready to fulfill your vision. God had…
September 5 There is an excellent illustration in the Bible that shows the difference between simply having a job and having a clear guiding purpose. It is found in the life of Nehemiah. Nehemiah was in a top position in the court of the Persian king Artaxerxes; he was cupbearer, and he was a highly…
September 4 The Why of Existence One of my undergraduate degrees is in education, and I had to take a course in biology for a full year as part of my degree requirements. I really enjoyed that course because it was extremely detailed; we studied the neurological and circulatory systems of the human body. At…
September 3 The First Principle: Have a Clear, Guiding Purpose The first principle in our Twelve Principles for Fulfilling Personal Vision is that you must have a clear guiding purpose for your life. Every effective leader or group of people in history has had one thing in common: They were directed by a clear vision….
September 2 Vision God has never created a failure. He designed you, sculpted you, and gave you birth to be a success. If you have failed, it is only because you are a success who went off track. Remember that you don’t have to stay on the sidelines. Redemption restores to you the ability to…
September 1 Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, “‘I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” God has plans for us, and He wants those plans to be fulfilled. Yet for this to happen, we must follow…